DALLAS, TEXAS – (March twenty ninth, 2023)– The U.S. Environmental Safety Company is proposing so as to add the Louisiana Superfund web site Capitol Lakes to the Nationwide Priorities Listing. The NPL is a roster of the nation’s most contaminated websites that threaten human well being or the atmosphere. By including this web site to the NPL, the EPA can prioritize funding for cleanup and essential enforcement motion.
“After we add a web site to the Nationwide Priorities Listing, EPA is committing to completely addressing contamination on-site and making certain surrounding communities obtain the safety and help they deserve,” stated EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Due to President Biden’s investments in America, EPA is ensuring complicated hazardous waste websites get the long-term federal monetary help and cleanup help they should safeguard important assets households depend on, like clear consuming water.”
“The EPA stays dedicated to making sure the protection and well being of residents who reside close to these Superfund websites,” stated Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “By including the Capitol Lakes web site to the NPL, we’re imposing environmental justice and taking motion to take away a risk that impacts the atmosphere and public well being. I wish to thank the Biden Administration and LDEQ for working with us on making certain the well being of Baton Rouge residents stays a high precedence.”
“This is step one in restoring these key belongings to their designated makes use of,” LDEQ Secretary Dr. Chuck Carr Brown stated. “As soon as the lakes are clear once more, all Capital space residents will have the ability to reap the benefits of these centrally situated water our bodies for sports activities and recreation, and a possible supply of ongoing air pollution might be eliminated due to the help of our federal companions.”
The Capitol Lakes web site encompasses three lakes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; North Lake, South Lake, and East Lake and occupies 60 acres adjoining to the Capitol Constructing and the Governor’s Mansion. In 1972, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) have been detected within the sediment, PCBs are quite a lot of chemical compounds that may trigger liver harm and pores and skin circumstances. Along with PCB-contaminated sediments, PCBs have been detected in fish tissue samples collected from North and South Lakes starting within the 1980’s and in April 2022. Based mostly on detected PCB concentrations within the fish tissue samples, a fishing advisory was established to warn residents of the problem and continues to be in place as of March 2023.
The Louisiana Division of Environmental High quality carried out a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Examine within the late 1990’s. At present, LDEQ continues to gather fish tissue samples on an annual foundation in help of the fishing advisory. The LDEQ referred the location to the EPA in spring/summer season of 2021, as soon as it was found long-term remediation choices have been restricted. In April 2022, the EPA carried out a web site reassessment on the lakes, through which each sediment samples and fish tissue samples have been collected and analyzed for chemical constituents. Chemical evaluation of lake sediment samples indicated the presence of PCBs. Fish tissue evaluation continued to detect PCB concentrations above the Human Meals Chain Most cancers Danger benchmark. To handle security issues and to take away a risk to the atmosphere, the EPA is transferring ahead with proposing this web site to the NPL. Along with the Capitol Lake web site, the EPA is including one web site to the NPL whereas proposing so as to add three extra websites.
The EPA is including the next web site to the Nationwide Priorities Listing:
- East Basin Highway Groundwater web site in New Fortress, Delaware.
The EPA is proposing so as to add the next websites to the Nationwide Priorities Listing:
- Federated Metals Corp Whiting in Hammond, Indiana.
- Capitol Lakes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Fansteel Metals/FMRI in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
- Lukachukai Mountains Mining District in Cove, Navajo Nation, Arizona.
The websites included on this announcement display the EPA’s dedication to precedence environmental points just like the long-term safety of consuming water, decreasing childhood lead publicity, remediating contamination from per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, addressing the legacy of uranium contamination within the Navajo Nation, and advancing environmental justice. All of the websites being added or proposed to be added to the Nationwide Priorities Listing are in communities with potential environmental justice issues primarily based on knowledge from EJSCREEN.
1000’s of contaminated websites, from landfills, to processing crops, to manufacturing services, exist nationally as a consequence of hazardous waste being dumped, unnoticed within the open, or in any other case improperly managed. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation accelerates the EPA’s work to scrub up this air pollution with a $3.5 billion funding within the Superfund Remedial Program. The legislation additionally reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it one of many largest investments in American historical past to handle legacy air pollution. This historic funding strengthens the EPA’s capability to sort out threats to human well being and the atmosphere from Superfund Nationwide Priorities Listing websites.
The Superfund program is credited for dealing with essentially the most hazardous websites in our nation and for offering vital well being enhancements amongst residents who reside in shut proximity to those websites. For details about Superfund and the NPL, please go to the EPA’s Superfund webpage. For Federal Register notices and supporting paperwork for the NPL and proposed websites, please go to: New Proposed and New Superfund Nationwide Priorities Listing Websites.
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